Enchantment
by Jaded Ashes
Summary: 3 years since the tragic death of Satine, Christian is forced to return to the Moulin Theatre. Awaiting him there is Roxanne. She has fallen for his beautiful words, but will she be able to melt his heart once again? Or will he take drastic measures?
1. Foreward

Enchantment

**Enchantment**

**3 Years**

3 years had passed since the tragic death of Satine, the Sparkling Diamond as she was known. I never knew her, but there are portraits with her all over the Rouge Theatre. Also, there is an elephant which no one is allowed to enter. Ziddler says that it was hers; they have kept it exactly as it was since she died. But there is another half to this story, another half that is generally ignored amongst the Diamond Dancers. A story of a young man, a young dreamer. A young dreamer who I will never forget. For this young dreamer, this young man was the one I loved. I am not Satine; I am just a dancer. A dancer who fell in love.

"Girls, Curtain call!" Ziddler yelled, of course we all ran at the sound of his voice. Making our way through the wooden maze of the backstage theatre; desperately trying to avoid the barriers which had not been sanded in a long time, each one very much waiting to give each of us a painful splinter. Ziddler clapped his hands and started twirling around shouting his old saying "The Show must go on!" I never really cared for that saying, but my best friend Krystal loved it. Reminded her of the first ever show, when she watched the sparkling diamond perform for the last time then suddenly meet her demise. Krystal was only a lighting girl, she couldn't dance nor could she sing but she could listen: and she could talk for Paris.

"Roxanne!" Krystal called out, "Roxanne!"

"What is it? Be quick about it I have to be on stage in a minute!" I replied, anxiously moving forward to get to the curtain,

"I just talked to Rose the costume designed, and she says that there is an old woman in the audience looking for some dancers for a big show in London!"

"London! Wow…" London, a city filled with such mystery for me, it held such promise, such future, such destiny. Maybe it even held the man of my dreams.

"Well don't stand around gaping! Get out there and impress her! Give it your all."

I did give it my all, but the woman just sat there twiddling her thumbs. Uninterested in me, but she did take one dancer. Rose. A beautiful young woman, with not a false step or stray hair in any of her dances; she was seen as perfect by everyone: including me.

Whilst I despaired of the vast and disappearing future, I was not aware of some deeper trouble which would change my life forever. Ziddler sat alone in his office, signing papers. Until a man walked in, the Duke's son Charles; definitely not a handsome man, his eyes were cruel, almost red. His small moustache almost covered a scar which ran from the corner of his mouth and almost up to the corner of his eye. His suit was grey with a white shirt and grey striped tie.

"Ahh Charles, what can the Rouge Theatre do for you today."

"Close Harold Ziddler."

"I am sorry…"

"Ziddler, face the truth. This theatre is barely making ends meet, you haven't put on a good show in 3 years, and your popularity amongst the people of this city is dramatically dropping. Your beloved theatre is turning back into the old Moulin Rouge; a place for underdogs, except with no payers."

"Charles please, give us some time. I swear to you that you will see a show within months that is Spectacular Spectacular."

"Ziddler, you do not have months. According to this, you have 3 weeks so if I were you, I'd get a move on." Charles left an ultimately stunned Ziddler alone to ponder his future. Ziddler knew that there was only one man who could save his beloved Theatre from closing. That man, was Christian.


	2. Return to the Rouge

Return to the Rouge

**Return to the Rouge**

Ziddler knocked on an old wooden door; you could see where the number had once been. Ziddler knocked once more, hoping this time for a response. Nothing; he slowly began to walk away, when he heard a small creek of a door opening. Christian stood there, his brown hair grown long, his facial hair had only recently been shaved, and there were fresh cuts on his cheeks the blades slashed into his pale skin.

"Go away Ziddler." He said spitefully, but Ziddler forcibly put his foot forward between the door and its frame, stopping the door from shutting him out.

"Please Christian…" Christian moved away from the door solemnly, he was not in the mood to talk to the man who reminded him so much of the dreadful past, that dreadful night.

"We need your help Christian. The Duke's son Charles wants to close us down. Many of our girls will be thrown..."

"Harold bloody Ziddler!" He yelled suddenly and angrily, "I have said this many times before that I want nothing more to do with you or you're stupid and shit Theatre!" Christian threw down his hands on the desk in rage, almost bruising his rough skin.

"It's been 3 years Christian."

"3 years of hell Harold!"

"Do you not think that it has been hard for us? We have lost a talented and beautiful actress. As well as a beautiful person! Now, worse still we have lost our only talented writer! Now Christian I suggest you get back out there and help the girls of the Moulin Rouge!"

"The same girls who tried to split up me and Satine? The same girls who almost got her raped? No way Ziddler! No bloody way!" Ziddler turned away, reaching for the door, until he turned round to say some last words.

"Christian, you once told her that the greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. You are not the only one who has fallen in love. The theatre Christian, it can bring so much hope to so many people and I love it! And I will do anything to keep that alive." He closed the door. A tear fell from Christian's soulless eye. He looked up at all of the papers hanging from his wall, 'Spectacular Spectacular' he muttered to himself, then his glance fell to one page. A page which had been hidden from his glare before, but not it was in plain sight of his cold eyes. He ripped it carefully off the wall, his eyes scanning it.

_Tell our story Christian._

_I will always love you_. The very words he had forgotten, the very words which felt he could not believe had returned to his memory. He stared out onto the window, blocking the Theatre from his view.

_Come what may_

_I will love you_

_Until my dying day_

Those words slowly drew his gaze back to the Rouge Theatre. Back to his past, and ahead to his future.

"Girls gather round!" Ziddler called from the stage, all of the girls gather round the stage, hoping so much that this news would not be the closure of their beloved home. It was then that I saw him, he walked onto the stage. His clothes were baggy and his eyes were full of sorrow. His smile was full of despair and his hair was rugged and dark. His pale skin glistened under the sunlight, showing some beauty within the rough. Ziddler presented him as our talented English writer Christian; he had written a show for us called Enchanted. A story of murder and tragedy filled with a small glimmer of hope, enchanted hope he called it. Poetry, all of his words flowed from him like nothing I had ever heard. I felt so joyous, yet so mournful, so angry yet so calm. His words brought a small tear to my eye, his beautiful singing voice brought hope to my soul. I was in love, with a young, talented writer. Though there was no time for me to dwell on my feelings, as rehearsals had begun immediately for the show which could save the Rouge Theatre from disaster; or was hoped to save the Rouge Theatre from disaster.

Once rehearsals had ended, I slowly made my towards the exit until I was stopped by that familiar sounding, English voice which could only belong to one man. I turned around, he was talking to the lead actress, explaining the finery details of her role. If only he would talk to me, if only he knew that I existed. I thought to myself with a deep desire to touch his lips with my own. _It's only a dream_ I thought to myself, only a dream.

Months passed, the show was to be performed in another 3 months. I was nervous, even though my part was only small. All I had to do was dance a dangerous style of the Can Can, Ziddler's favourite dance. Though there was something else which brought me fear, Ziddler had begun to evict some of his dancing girls to save money to keep the theatre alive. Whenever he would walk into a room I would feel my heart racing, pounding into my chest. I knew that one day, he would call my name and tell me that he had no choice but to send me away. Many of the other girls stuck together, some already had flats of their own. Others had family, I had no one. Krystal offered to give me a place to stay, but I refused. How could I have been so stupid? To refuse a place to sleep! I couldn't afford to stay in a hotel; I barely knew any of the girls. At least not well enough to stay with them for possibly another 3 months. I couldn't do it. I couldn't put myself through that torment. But I would have to, one day.

"Roxanne!" Ziddler called from the empty hall, "Roxanne!" He rushed up to one of the other girls, not a dancer; she made the elegant and flamboyant costumes for us all. "Have you seen Roxanne?" He asked her hurriedly,

"Yes, she just left for her room a few seconds ago. Is she?"

"Yes I'm afraid she is."

"You know she has no family Ziddler, no friends."

"I know Miss Devau, but I have no choice. She'll find somewhere to stay. But not here, anywhere but here" he walked away from Miss Devau, until a sudden and sharp pull on his arm forced him to turn his head back towards her glare.

"Then tell her this, she can sleep on my sofa tonight."

"I shall."

Ziddler never told me what Miss Devau had said, why I cannot be sure. I was unaware of it at the time, but as I look back, I question why he never mentioned Miss Devau's kind offer. "Maybe he forgot." I kept telling myself. "Maybe he just forgot." Even so, that same night I was forced to leave the Theatre. I watched the floor as I drifted a long it's cold and dark patterns. My blanket draping behind me I had no choice now, I had to sleep out in the cold, dark and lonely street. There was nothing else for me to do. _It's not going to be for long. _I kept telling myself, I kept lying to myself.

I quickly found myself a deserted alleyway, it was reasonably sheltered and close to the Rouge Theatre. I lay down my blankets, ready to curl up for the miserable night ahead.


End file.
